by Robin Caroll
“Ms. Fountaine, are you sure you don’t want to wait for the police?” Sully pulled her from her musings.
She shook her head. “If what I suspect has been taken, we’ll need to call more than just the New Orleans police department.”
The inside of the vault was dimmer, the lighting more muted than the harshness of the hallway. The right and left walls housed floor-to-ceiling shelves where items were stored for safekeeping. Theback left corner held the five-and-a-half-feet-tall safe. The door stood open, and Adelaide’s heart pitched to her toes.
She wasn’t quite sure how she was going to handle what was about to become an international incident, but Adelaide was certain of one thing: she was about to find out.
2
Beau
Detective Beauregard Savoie stepped from the cruiser onto the parking lot of the Darkwater Inn at exactly 7:19 p.m. The early evening February moon split through the clouds that had covered the Louisiana sky for most of the day. He sighed into the gentle breeze as he took in the hotel. Addy’s hotel. A strong sense of déjà vu made him shudder as he strode toward the glass lobby doors.
His partner, Detective Marcel Taton, fell into synced steps alongside him. “Crime scene unit is on its way, along with the coroner.”
“Who from CSU?” Beau didn’t slow as he flashed his shield at the uniformed doorman and strode into the lobby. While all the technicians in the crime scene unit were good, Beau had his favorite team and preferred working with them. Especially on a double homicide.
Marcel chuckled. “Nolan, Robert, and Erik.”
“Good.” Beau drew to a sudden stop as his eyes met those of Dimitri Pampalon, who stood in the lobby with Lissette Bastien, his half sister.
Dimitri’s father owned the Darkwater Inn, so he and Lissette were technically owners as well, which made them Addy’s bosses. But that didn’t bother Beau. What did bother him was Dimitri’s obvious interest in Addy and his close proximity to her every day. While it hadn’t been so bad while she was in Europe the last several months, she was back now, and Beau couldn’t stop the feelings of jealousy that threatened to strangle him. He’d been in love with Addy since they were kids. He’d finally broken his silence about his sentiments last year, but Addy hadn’t made any determination between him and Dimitri. She’d explained she needed space, and they’d both respected her wishes. And then she’d been gone for half a year training at that hotel.
But she was back now.
And there were two dead bodies reported at the Darkwater Inn.
“Adelaide sent me to meet you.” Dimitri’s voice didn’t waver, yet it held the inflection that he had better access to the woman they both were attracted to.
Beau chose to ignore that for the time being. He was here to do a job at the moment. “If you’ll take me to the crime scene, we can start. Our unit will be here shortly.”
“I’m assuming the crime scene unit will be in their van?”
“Of course,” Marcel replied.
Dimitri turned to his sister. “Why don’t you go out front and direct them to park in the alley near the back entrance? It’ll be much closer for them to access the vault. And the coroner as well.”
Parking the CSU and coroner’s vans in the alley would also help keep the homicides and robbery out of the public eye. Better for the hotel. Better for business.
“This way.” Dimitri didn’t wait for Beau or Marcel to answer as he led them down the hallway behind the front desk. Beau couldn’t stop his detective’s mind from sizing up the man, even though he knew him.
Dimitri Pampalon, thirty-three years old, only son to hotel mogul Claude Pampalon. Bred and groomed to take over the family fortune but thwarted daddy’s retirement plans when he opted to play Chef Boyardee and bring in his long-lost but newly found half sister to take his place. Daddy Pampalon hadn’t been happy then, and Beau doubted much had changed.
Dimitri turned into the maze of hallways hidden from customer view behind the front-desk counters. “Your cyber-crimes team arrived a few minutes ago and is in our security area going over the computer system that was tampered with.”
“I know.” Beau had spoken with Zach, the lead investigator on the team, on the drive over, and they would coordinate their teams, with Beau taking the lead since he’d been promoted not too long ago to lead detective.
As was his habit, Beau didn’t want to be told details, preferring to make his own observations and notes. Some might think his method old school, even if he was only thirty-four years old and on the job for a decade, but the process worked for him. He had one of the highest percentages of cases solved in the precinct, so he had to be doing something right. He pulled out his notebook and pen, still refusing to use a pencil regardless of what anybody else did, and gave a curt nod to his partner.
Marcel, who had almost total recall so never had to write anything down—an ability Beau wished he had—acknowledged the nod by quickening to step beside Dimitri. “I know you’ve reported all the times and pertinent information regarding the hack to our team, but can you give me a basic rundown?”
Dimitri’s pace slowed a little. “We had over a hundred room service orders hit our system simultaneously. Guests’ room cards stopped working. We thought at first there was a glitch, but our team soon realized that the system had been hacked. Adelaide requested security contact the man at the vault. When there was no response, our acting chief of security, Sully, and Adelaide came to investigate. They found our security guard and the private security guard of one of the hotel’s guests both lying dead in the vault. That’s pretty much where we’re at now.” He turned the corner and stopped.
Addy and the tall bulk of a man stood outside the vault door. She looked at Beau as he approached. Fear and horror glistened in her eyes. Beau pulled gloves and shoe covers from his pocket and busied himself putting them on, stopping himself from any unprofessional actions toward her despite everything in him tensing to pull her to him.
Marcel paused beside Beau. “Who all has been inside since this happened?”
“Me,” the large black man said.
“This is Sully Clements, our acting chief of security,” Addy volunteered. “Sully checked to see if the men were alive, as well as to see if there was anyone else inside.”
“There wasn’t.” Sully nodded.
“You’re the only one who’s been inside?” Marcel asked.
Addy shook her head. “Dimitri stepped inside to check on Leon, our security officer there, and I went into the vault to check the safe.”
Beau tightened his jaw. She knew better. “Why?”
Her gaze flashed against his face. “Because it’s my job to know what’s missing, especially items that belong to guests.” She wavered. “I took my shoes off before I went in, though, so I wouldn’t mess up any evidence.”
Beau’s lips tingled toward a smile. Typical Addy to try her best to do what she thought was right, even when it really didn’t make a difference. Instead, he turned to a fresh page in his notebook. “So, Sully, you, and Dimitri all have entered the crime scene?”
Addy lifted her chin and stared at him. “Yes.” He made a note.
“Mr. Pampalon, if you would come down the hall a little with me, I can get your statement.” Marcel gently turned Dimitri away from the vault room. Most people were more thorough with their statements when they retold them without someone else present to muddy the memory. Beau and Marcel usually worked to separate witnesses if at all possible.
Beau pulled out another pair of the foot coverings from his pocket and passed them to Addy. “You can walk me through it.” He turned to Sully Clements. “Please stay here. Detective Taton will take your statement as soon as he finishes with Mr. Pampalon.”
As he stepped into the vault alongside Addy, he took a moment to allow himself one personal question. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I’ll be okay. Unlike Leon.” She ran a hand over her hair. “I need to call his family. I don’t want them to hear about th
is on the news.”
“We’ll take care of that.”
“I appreciate that, but they’re part of the Darkwater family.”
“You can call after we make the official notification. We’ll also need to speak to everyone who had access to this room, as well as to the security system.”
She nodded but kept her gaze averted from the two dead men on the floor.
It probably seemed very odd to her for them to work around the bodies, but Beau had a job to do, and the quicker he did it, the quicker there would be justice for her employee. He moved into his detective mindset. The coroner and CSU would be here soon to collect every bit of evidence. Right now, he needed an idea of what he was dealing with.
“So, what was kept here in the vault?” He tapped his pen against the notebook and faced Addy, effectively blocking her view of the dead men on the floor.
She nodded toward the shelves on the right side of the room filled with large cardboard boxes. “Those are basically old records for the hotel. Things Mr. Pampalon wanted to keep. Old things belonging to the hotel that we bring out on special occasions.” She nodded to the bank of shelves lining the left side of the room. “Those wooden crates store pieces of art and paintings that we rotate through certain areas of the hotel. Some of them are quite valuable.”
Yet they didn’t look disturbed at all. They were, by all initial observations, untouched. “Nothing belonging to guests kept in here?”
She shook her head. “Since we installed safes in each room, we don’t store much in the vault for guests anymore. Only on rare occasions and special events like an art showing or something.” She nodded toward the open safe in the back corner. “If it’s something extremely valuable, we store the items in there.”
The black metal safe was about five or so feet tall, three and a half feet wide, and a couple of feet deep. The door stood ajar, revealing two shelves and a drawer, which was also open. Beau, careful to not touch the door, studied it. “I’m assuming there were items in here?”
Addy nodded. “A personal item belonging to Mr. Pampalon, about fifty thousand cash, and as of two nights ago, the crown tiara of Princess Katerina von Pavlovna of Liechtenstein.”
What? “Wait a minute. Let me get this straight. First off, you keep fifty grand in cash?” Who did that?
“Most hotels do keep a bit of cash on hand. Twenty-five to fifty thousand is the usual for most hotels our size. We just don’t advertise that, for obvious reasons.”
“That’s a lot of money to sit around in a safe, Addy.”
“It’s customary. Has been that way since the day I started work- ing here.”
That seemed like a large amount of cash. He couldn’t help but wonder who all knew that kind of money was kept in the safe.
Still careful not to touch the actual safe itself, Beau moved closer and inspected it. No scratches on the outside of the door. None on the drawer pulled out. Both the door and the drawer had an electronic lock. Either someone knew the codes to open it or knew how to gain access.
Like a hacker.
Beau turned back to Addy. “The tiara?”
Her face paled against her long, dark hair as she nodded. “Princess Katerina von Pavlovna is here from Liechtenstein as a special guest of Mr. Pampalon. She is scheduled to ride on his krewe’s float this weekend. Her crown was stored in the drawer until the parade on Saturday at noon.”
“Hello, Detective Savoie.”
Beau turned to greet Nolan, head of the CSU team dispatched. “Glad to see your team here.”
“Erik’s taking pictures of the outside of the vault door first so Robert can dust it for prints.” Nolan was all business, one of the reasons Beau liked his particular team so much. They were fast, thorough, and good. Very good.
Beau took note that Nolan was already in his full evidence-collecting gear. “I’m guessing Walt should be here soon.”
Nolan nodded. “We passed his van on our way in.” He pulled out evidence bags from his kit. “Why don’t I start here at the safe?”
“Thanks, Nolan.” Beau turned back to Addy, taking her arm and leading her back into the hall, passing Erik as his camera flashed almost continuously on his way inside. Robert already had his little brush out, dusting over the vault’s handle.
“So the crown was in the drawer of the safe?”
Addy nodded. “Right. We put it in there two nights ago. When they arrived on Monday evening.”
“They?”
“Princess Katerina von Pavlovna and her fiancé, Edmond Jansen.”
“Claude Pampalon brought in a real princess for his Mardi Gras krewe?” Beau knew the older Pampalon had an ego as big as the Big Easy—had made that fact clear five or so years ago when he started his own krewe that had to have the longest parade on Saturday after- noon, the biggest floats, and the most outlandish party. Even so, a real princess? How did one even go about hiring a real princess?
Addy smiled, her eyes connecting to his in the familiar way of two people very comfortable with one another. They should be, since he and Addy had been friends since they were children. Their pasts were as interwoven as any could be. “One of Mr. Pampalon’s business associates is Edward Jansen, Edmond’s father. Apparently the princess has been wanting to come to the states to visit. Mr. Pampalon made it happen for her.”
“Which also benefitted his own standing with his business associate?” Because Beau couldn’t imagine that man doing anything for anyone that didn’t directly benefit himself.
“Of course.” Addy’s smile reached her eyes for a fraction of a second . . . until the coroner and two of his assistants wearing jackets with the coroner’s office logo emblazoned on the back walked down the hall.
“Hey, Beau.”
Beau turned. “Hey, there, Walt. How’s it going?”
The old coroner, whose brows formed a bushy fringe over his eyes, shook his head. “I’m not retired and living at an old fishing cabin, so that tells you something.”
Beau chuckled at their familiar back-and-forth dialogue. “Same here, my friend. Same here.”
“Two bodies, I hear?”
Beau nodded.
“Need identification on either?” Walt asked. Beau cut his gaze to Addy.
She shook her head. “One is our employee, Leon Edwards, and the other is Rubin Hassler, a private guard from the royal Pavlovna family from Liechtenstein.”
“Well, all righty, then. I’ll see what I can determine for you.” Walt headed into the vault, his two employees on his heels.
“I need to go tell the princess and Edmond about Rubin Hassler and the theft. I’m sure there is a certain protocol for what needs to happen first in situations like this.”
Beau couldn’t even imagine the ramifications.
Raised voices echoed in the hallway outside the vault door. Beau turned to check out the commotion.
“This is my hotel, and I’ll go where I see fit.” Claude Pampalon, sternness etched deep into every line of his face, glared from the doorway to the vault room.
The repercussions were about to begin.
3
Dimitri
Dimitri spun at his father’s words. Claude Pampalon barged past the young uniformed officer who had arrived and stood at the door to the vault.
Detective Savoie left Adelaide and blocked off his father. “Sir, this is a crime scene. You can’t be in here.”
Claude glared at Detective Savoie. “This is my hotel, and I’ll go wherever I please,” he repeated. He moved to sidestep the detective.
But Beauregard Savoie was too fast, effectively blocking him again. “No, sir. Not when there’s a double homicide.”
Claude glanced over to the open safe, then to Adelaide. “Ms. Fountaine, is there anything left in the safe?”
Adelaide shook her head. “No, sir.”
Dimitri moved to the doorway. “Father, I’ve concluded my statement to the police, so why don’t we go to your office, and I can give you the details of the incident?”
Just the way his father said his name would have made others balk. But not Dimitri. No, he’d had a lifetime of hearing the disappointment in his father’s voice. It was the only way his father spoke to him as of late.
“No, Father, it isn’t. Two men are dead.” Dimitri looked over his shoulder at the officer who’d taken his statement. “My father and I will be in his office if you need us to answer any questions, Detective Taton.”
Dimitri turned and took deliberate steps toward Claude’s office, hearing his father’s hard footfalls behind him. He could picture his father’s face: flushed red tone, frontal vein bulging, and eyes hardened like set stone against the lines of his face. Dimitri quickened his pace and held open the door to the office, allowing Claude to precede him before he shut the door securely behind them.
Claude strode behind his desk and took a seat in his executive chair. Dimitri sat in one of the two wingbacks facing the desk. “Let me bring you up to speed, Father.”
“Oh, please do.” Claude’s words themselves might have carried the perception of politeness, but his tone dripped with sarcasm.
Dimitri ignored the disdain of his father’s tone and quickly explained about the room-service orders, the hack, and Adelaide and Sully finding the bodies and empty safe. He ended with the arrival of the police. “The cyber-crimes unit has already found the threads of code that the hacker used to access the system.”
“Have they identified the hacker?”
